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“There is a place. Like no place on Earth. A
land full of wonder, mystery, and danger! Some say to
survive it: You need to be as mad as a hatter…Which
luckily I am.”- The Mad Hatter
I don’t know about you, but if I were in an
uncomfortable situation with a room full of people, and
I saw a white rabbit wearing a waistcoat and pocket
watch booking towards a maze, I’d be outta there in a
heartbeat.
That’s what Alice Kingsley does for the second time in
ten years - and this time the stakes are much, much
higher.
Welcome to Director Tim Burton’s vision of Alice in
Wonderland…complete with a goth-esque Alice, Johnny Depp
playing the Mad Hatter, and what Disney film would be
complete without a smoking caterpillar?
A fun ride to be sure, but traveling down the rabbit
hole into Wonderland is not for the faint of heart. And
perhaps you do need to be at least a bit mad to survive…
Which luckily for me, I am as well.
I didn’t see a white rabbit and follow him down a hole,
but when I was 15, I heard a message and an invitation
that sounds just about as crazy as Alice in Wonderland.
The speaker talked about an invisible spiritual kingdom
that co-exists with the physical world we live in. There
are good and evil forces locked in battle, and the
stakes are the highest in the universe, because the war
is for eternal souls.
So I checked it out in God’s Word to see if he was
correct, and this is what I found:
For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and
transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who
purchased our freedom and forgave our sins (Colossians
1:13-14).
Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil.
He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for
someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8).
A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty
power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be
able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.
For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies,
but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen
world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and
against evil spirits in the heavenly places (Ephesians
6:10-12).
Are you seeing the picture here? When I trusted Jesus
Christ for salvation, I entered into a spiritual
wonderland that has been the greatest adventure I ever
could have imagined. I’ve seen and experienced things
that simply cannot be described with human language…and
yes, there are those who might call me mad. But who
cares? I’m in league with someone else who was labeled
similarly:
“I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic…‘I am sending
you to the Gentiles to open their eyes, so they may turn
from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to
God. Then they will receive forgiveness for their sins
and be given a place among God’s people, who are set
apart by faith in me.’”
Suddenly, Festus shouted, “Paul, you are insane. Too
much study has made you crazy!” (Acts 26:17-18;24)
This is a scene from The Apostle Paul’s life when he was
on trial for being a Christian. When he told them about
the spiritual rabbit hole that Jesus called him down,
they wrote him off as the original Mad Hatter.
And I guess we all seem a little mad. We appear mad
because we believe that God loved the world so much that
he sent Jesus to save us. We look crazy because we
believe life was designed for us to love/serve God and
to “rescue others by snatching them from the flames of
judgment” (Jude 1:23). But really, this is the realest
reality of all.
Can I be a white rabbit for a second? I’d like to invite
you to the wonderland of Christianity. Following Christ
is not a boring religious exercise designed to keep us
from having fun - that’s what Satan would like you to
believe. Rather this is what God promises:
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard,
and no mind has imagined
what God has prepared
for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).
This pledge is not referring to heaven - although that
will be amazing as well. This is a guarantee to those
who love Jesus, that their lives will be as radically
different and more exciting and breathtaking as
Wonderland compared to England. It’s a place. Like no
place on Earth. A land full of wonder, mystery, and
danger.
So…what’s in your Wonderland?
Flashpoint: Ignite Into Action
Ask your friends what they think about Christians and
Christianity in general. Talk to them about how
following Christ is a radically different way to see
life, and pray for an opportunity to share the gospel.
Accelerant: Feed the Fire
For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for
us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we
fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.
For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is
eternal (2 Corinthians 4:17-18).
Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in
heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go
and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have
commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the
very end of the age" (Matthew 28:18-20).
But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame
the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to
shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this
world and the despised things - and the things that are
not - to nullify the things that are, so that no one may
boast before him (1 Corinthians 1:27-29).
Lane Palmer serves as a writer for Dare 2 Share
Ministries (D2S) in Arvada, Colorado, a ministry
committed to energizing and equipping teenagers to know,
live, share and own their faith in Jesus. For more
information about D2S, please visit www.dare2share.org.
Next Story : Christian Students
For more wonderful articles by Lane Palmer,
click here!
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